Machine Gun Kelly Was A Surprisingly Good Mentor On The Voice For Gwen Stefani’s Team, But I’m Really Confused By A Different Twist

Machine Gun Kelly is Gwen Stefani's Playoff Advisor on The Voice Season 26 on November 19, 2024.
(Image credit: Casey Durkin/NBC)

This story is SPOILER FREE after The Voice’s November 19 episode, but you can still stream Season 26 with a Peacock subscription if you’re not caught up.

The Voice Season 26 has officially entered the Playoff portion of the 2024 TV schedule, where all four coaches will have to choose just two of their remaining five team members to represent them in the live shows. On Tuesday, however, the focus was only on Gwen Stefani’s team, as all of her artists performed before she had to make her painful decision. Machine Gun Kelly helped a little, serving as a Playoff mentor for her team’s rehearsals, and while I was pleasantly surprised at how engaged he was, it was a different twist — learning who will be Snoop Dogg’s advisor — that really caught me off guard.

MGK Makes His Voice Debut To Help Team Gwen

It’s been a busy month for Machine Gun Kelly, as he made his debut on The Voice just days after Megan Fox announced in an oozy pic that they are having a baby. Although serving as a Playoff advisor for Gwen Stefani’s team probably pales in comparison to becoming a father again, MGK really seemed to embrace his role.

All due respect to the rapper, maybe I didn't expect the man who’s been known to climb to dangerous heights during his shows and smash his face with a champagne glass to give such sound advice to the No Doubt singer’s team members. But I loved how MGK made himself relatable to the contestants, pointing out that he, too, had worked a lot of fast food jobs and — like Team Gwen’s Jan Dan — had been on stage when his child was born.

He wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion, helping the singers connect to the emotion of the lyrics they were singing. He encouraged them to ad-lib and make unexpected choices, because “for some people, weird is the way.”

I actually would have welcomed the chance to see Machine Gun Kelly serve as the advisor for the other teams, but that’s apparently not the plan, and I’m actually a little confused by what that plan is.

Simone Biles is shown on a preview for The Voice Season 26, where she'll serve as Snoop Dogg's Playoff Advisor.

(Image credit: NBC)

Team Snoop Will Be Advised By … Simone Biles?

As The Voice teased the continuation of the Playoffs next Monday, Simone Biles was revealed to be Snoop Dogg’s Playoff advisor, and that kind of threw me for a loop. No doubt the West Coast rapper is trying to channel that GOAT energy, and nobody’s questioning how amazing and inspiring the Olympic gymnast is, but how well can she advise singing? I apparently wasn’t the only one confused by this, as fans on X (Twitter) chimed in:

  • SIMONE??? That’s so random to me… so that tracks for snoop 😭😭 – McEnFancy
  • Simone Biles????? – houseofwarwick
  • I'm a huge Simone Biles fan but wtfork does she have to do with singing? Very odd – LukeEverhart1

Now, Simone Biles has performed on the biggest stage in the world, so maybe she will focus her advice on calming the nerves and performing under pressure. That honestly does sound like it’s right up Snoop’s alley.

I won’t make the mistake of underestimating the gold medalist, either, the way that I might have underestimated MGK. This also wasn’t the first time in Season 26 that I’ve been confused by this show that I’ve been watching for the past 13 years. First they introduced a new rule that seemed to undermine the whole point of The Voice, and then a Gwen Stefani contestant made history by doing something that I frankly didn’t know was allowed.

The Voice is keeping me on my toes, and believe me, I’m nowhere near as graceful as Simone Biles on that balance beam. I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the singing competition when Playoffs resume at 8 p.m. ET Monday, November 25, on NBC.

Heidi Venable
Content Producer

Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.